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How much influence did Palmer have on American culture? As longtime New York Times (and former Palm Beach Post) golf writer Larry Dorman put it Monday, “The guy probably got a lot of people to start smoking because of the way he looked with a cigarette. But when he quit in 1973, a lot of those same people probably quit as well.”

We asked people in the golf world to share a memory or story about Palmer in the wake of his passing Sunday night at the age of 87.

Cal Brown, golf writer and tournament director now living in Palm Beach Gardens

“I was the tournament director of a Senior Tour event in Indian Wells, Calif., in the early ‘80s that we wanted to make into a version of the Masters, and one year we decided to honor him. I got this gold coin to be struck that was 2 or 3 inches in diameter and we needed to write an inscription on the back. After wrestling with it for a while, I finally came up with, ‘No man has had such a profound influence on the game.’

“I gave it to him and he looked at it, read the inscription and spontaneously said, ‘I think you’ve got this wrong. It should read, No game has had such a profound influence on a man.’ ”

Bob Murphy, longtime PGA and Senior Tour member and a resident of Delray Dunes

“It was 1969, my second year on the tour, and we had a meeting in Oklahoma with the idea we would be breaking away from the PGA of America and forming our own tour. Mark McCormack was representing both Arnold and Jack Nicklaus at the time and he gave a talk and said he could promise us our purses would go from $100,000 per event to $250,000, but that Arnold, Jack and Gary Player would have to get appearance fees.

“No sooner was that out of his mouth than Arnold stood up and said, ‘Mark, that’s not the way it’s going to work. You take the money you want to pay us, put it in the purse and we’ll play for it. You’re not going to pay us just to show up.’ In my mind that was the turning point in the creation of the PGA Tour. And it wasn’t long after that the purses were topping $200,000 every week.”

Bob Goalby, longtime foe of Palmer on both the PGA and Senior tours

“We all wanted to be Arnold Palmer. He was one of the guys for a long, long time. We didn’t see much of him on Mondays, Tuesdays or Wednesdays over the last 25 years we were out there because he was flying around in his jet and doing all that corporate stuff.

“When he was honored at Palm Springs three years ago a bunch of us agreed we were all jealous of him. Not mad at him; we wanted to be like him. We wanted to play like him, make money like him, treat people like him — we all wanted to be Arnold Palmer. He was just a special guy.

“My best memory of him on the course was one year at the Masters he put his second shot over the water at both par-5 holes on the back nine, Nos. 13 and 15. Guys do that nowadays but back then, with the equipment and all, that was very unlikely. He cleared both times by about a foot. That’s the way he played.”

Lorne Rubenstein, Hall of Fame Canadian golf writer and seasonal resident of Jupiter:

“Back in 1996 I was doing a series of articles for the Globe and Mail in which I’d played a round with PGA Tour players. I contacted Doc Giffin (Palmer’s assistant) in Latrobe, Pa., and asked if I could come down from Toronto and right away Arnold said sure. He couldn’t have been more accommodating or friendly.

“He was 66 at the time and walked the course, but had two carts with 20-25 clubs in each, and after almost every tee shot he pulled out an X-Acto knife and regripped his club. I don’t know how many grips he went through that day.

“He asked my handicap before the round and I told him I was a 4, so he would give me four shots. He beat me 3-and-2, but when I offered him a Canadian $5 bill to pay the bet he wouldn’t take it. He did see I had a new Canadian $2 coin, which was known as a toonie, and asked if he could have that since he was going to Hamilton to play a Senior Tour event the next week.

“I went off to cover the U.S. Open so I didn’t know how he did, so I asked him next time I saw him. He told me he used it for five holes and three-putted three of them, so he gave it to (wife) Winnie.”

Bob Denney, PGA of America official

“I was a young sportswriter in Iowa when Amana brought Arnold to a VIP pro-am in Iowa City in the early ‘80s. It was the Monday after the U.S. Open and more than 20,000 people showed up, mostly to see him. I didn’t realize the magnetism he had. He wasn’t winning majors anymore, but he was still winning over people.

“He signed many things, and one woman said she was scared for a moment he was going to sign her breast. But she was just so excited to see him. The experience really opened my eyes to what magnetism he had even after his prime.

“Later I shook hands with him for the first time and it was like putting your hand in a vice. I still feel it today. But he’d look you in the eye, give you a wink, and that’s how he endeared himself to everybody.”

Martin Hall, Director of Golf at Ibis Country Club and host of “School of Golf” on Golf Channel

“I was hitting balls next to him on the range at the PGA European Championships at Royal St. Georges in England in 1977. His ball sounded like it was coming out of a rocket and mine out of a pea-shooter. What a strong, dynamic man he was. It was mind-boggling, the sound of the ball coming off the club.

“More recently I’ve done a couple of pieces with him for Golf Channel and saw how incredible he was with everybody; the people at Bay Hill just loved him. Three times I met him face-to-face and saw how he went out of his way to make everybody feel special. It’s pretty remarkable to think that when you were finished talking with him you felt better about yourself, but that’s how he was. The game wouldn’t be where it is, and Golf Channel wouldn’t exist, without Arnold Palmer.”

Larry Bush, former Palm Beach Times golf writer

“I was working part-time for the PGA of America when the Senior Open was coming to PGA National every year and one year they asked me to pick him up after he finished his round and bring him to the media room. We could hardly move the cart with all the people asking for autographs. And he didn’t mind. Anytime he gave an autograph he would make sure it was something they could read. A ride that should have taken a few minutes probably took 15 because he kept making me stop for the people.”

“It was 1966 and John D. MacArthur had convinced the PGA of America to have the National Team Championship at what then was PGA National but now is (BallenIsles). Arnold and Jack Nicklaus decided to play together and I was following them. It was wet, so I was walking with a putter in my hand. After 11 or 12 holes Arnold came over and said, ‘Hey, I like the look of that putter. Can I try it?’

“He goes out and makes two or three longish putts, and at No. 18 he’s talking with MacArthur when I come up. He sees me, walks toward me and says, ‘How much for the putter?’ I said, ‘How about a handshake?’ He laughed, we shook hands, and I went on with my day.

“Fast forward to the ‘80s and he’s playing at PGA National and by now we’re friends and I ask him what happened to the putter. He said, ‘You know, I think I used it for one round and went back to my old one. It’s back in Latrobe among the thousands of others on my shelf.’ He was that way with clubs, and especially putters. He’d pick them up at garage sales, everywhere.”

Brian Biggane, retired Palm Beach Post sportswriter

Covering golf for The Post in Palmer’s twilight years gave me little exposure to the King, but there was one memorable moment. Palmer always sat down with the media prior to his Bay Hill event, and in March 2015 had the following exchange with a nosy reporter:

Reporter: Mr. Palmer, we understand you had a lengthy conversation with Tiger Woods this week when he called to tell you he’d be unable to play in your tournament. Can you tell us what was the nature of that conversation?

Palmer: Well, first of all, whoever told you it was a lengthy conversation is full of (expletive)…